| I want you to do me a favor. Close your eyes, and | | | | the month before! It's not all fun and games, though; |
| think back: back to college, back to Mardi Gras, back | | | | even good times hit their bad times. In the past 197 |
| to Cancun. Imagine biggest party you've ever been to | | | | years, Munich has called off Oktoberfest 24 times due |
| in your life. For some, it's that once-in-a-lifetime trip to | | | | to famine, disease, and two world wars. In 1980, a lone |
| New Orleans; for others, it's the frat fest at Halloween | | | | far-right nutcase struck another blow with a pipe bomb |
| where there are more little party cups than there are | | | | that killed thirteen people and injured 200 more. Despite |
| human beings. Whatever that uber-party is, picture it in | | | | it all, however, Germany's most famous party always |
| your mind. Now multiply it by, oh, at least a million. You | | | | bounced back, and today an estimated 15% of its 6.5 |
| might-might-approach the jubilee that is Oktoberfest, | | | | million visitors come from overseas. Every |
| the largest public festival in the world. With an average | | | | Oktoberfest begins the same way: a crowd of people |
| of six million annual visitors and only God knows how | | | | 8,000-strong marches through Munich, dressed in |
| many beers, the yearly festival in Munich dwarfs every | | | | traditional Bavarian clothes and led by the town |
| other celebration on earth-save, maybe, the millennium | | | | "kindl"--a sort of 'town mascot,' usually a small child or |
| celebration. And unlike other parties that stop after, oh, | | | | young woman, who represents the Munich coat of |
| one or two days, Oktoberfest sees fit to keep on | | | | arms. After the parade, the city mayor officially kicks |
| truckin' for two weeks. That's a lot of beer, but | | | | off the festivities by tapping a ceremonial keg and |
| fortunately there are plenty of people to drink it. | | | | declaring (to the joy of the crowd) "it's been tapped!" |
| Stretching from the last weekend of September to the | | | | From there, thirsty festival-goers (many who arrived at |
| first weekend of October, Oktoberfest attracts visitors | | | | 9 AM for the evening event) finally get to taste the |
| from every corner of the globe-and has inspired a | | | | special Oktoberfest beer, a strong, dark brew only |
| plethora of tributes in just as many countries. Odds are, | | | | made during the festival. It's drank by the gallons in |
| if you're anywhere near some fairgrounds, there'll be | | | | streets, bars, and especially in the 10,000-capacity |
| people in Bavarian dress clinking mugs and singing | | | | festival tent! Of course, some (most) of us can't hop a |
| polka. But despite the legions of drunk youths (known | | | | plane to Munich any time soon, so how do we |
| as "beer corpses" by the locals) stumbling through | | | | celebrate on our side of the pond? Well-prepared |
| Munich every year, Oktoberfest certainly isn't just | | | | brewmeisters can twist open a bottle of homemade |
| about the bier. In fact, overconsumption of alcohol is | | | | beer, but the rest of us can find ways to participate, |
| looked down upon by nearly every Oktoberfest | | | | too. Consider cooking one of these German and |
| veteran as a sign of youthful inexperience. | | | | Bavarian cuisine-inspired recipes: Holly's German |
| Oktoberfest is also about the people, the food, and the | | | | Spaetzle Dumplings Shrimp and Fresh Herb Spaetzle |
| music-all of them coming together to celebrate a | | | | with Creamy Tomato Sauce Grilled Bratwurst with |
| German cultural tradition dating back to 1810. The first | | | | German Potato Salad German Soft Pretzels Ritter's |
| Oktoberfest began on October 12, 1810 as a massive | | | | Inn Sauerbraten and Dumplings Or try making your |
| horse race, all to celebrate the marriage of Bavarian | | | | own sauerkraut with help from this video. For the less |
| Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese von | | | | culinarily-inclined, many towns around the country throw |
| Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festival grounds were | | | | Oktoberfest bashes-all you need to do is go, pay, and |
| named Theresienwiese in honor of the princess; even | | | | enjoy. We recommend doing this even if you do cook |
| today, locals refer affectionately to them as "Die | | | | for yourself; part of Oktoberfest's appeal is the crowd! |
| Weisen." Unsurprisingly, the revelry surrounding the | | | | Whatever you end up doing, you'd better make sure |
| races was tremendously popular, and by 1813 the | | | | to do it soon. There's only 11 days of Oktoberfest |
| festival was declared mandatory for every year. | | | | left...and the clock is ticking! |
| People loved it so much it soon stretched to two | | | | Recipe4Living has tens of thousands of recipes, a |
| weeks in length; as the years went on, organizers | | | | growing userbase, and tons of features that would |
| pushed the starting point back into September to take | | | | make any foodie drool. There can never be enough |
| advantage of the milder weather. So now-somewhat | | | | cooks in our kitchen, so stop at today! |
| counter-intuitively-a festival named for October begins | | | | |